Nissan Begins Canton Production of Altima Sedan

CANTON, Miss. June 14, 2004; The first Mississippi-built Nissan Altima midsize sedan rolled off the assembly line today, becoming the fifth vehicle in Canton's production lineup and concluding the plant's aggressive startup schedule, a key component in Nissan's global expansion plans.

"Our team did an excellent job accomplishing a very difficult task," said Dave Boyer, vice president for Manufacturing in Canton. "I am so proud of them. Now that our launch phase is over, our goal remains unchanged -- building top-quality vehicles for the American marketplace."

Canton has the capacity to build more than 150,000 Altimas a year, which will supplement Altima production from the Smyrna, Tenn., plant. Canton's total annual capacity is 400,000 units.

The new Canton plant produced its first vehicle just last year. The Nissan Quest minivan rolled off the line on May 27, 2003, and the plant went on to make automotive history by launching five all-new products on time in less than a year. The Nissan Armada full-size SUV was launched in August, the Nissan Titan full-size truck in October and the Infiniti QX56 full-size SUV in January. The plant's aggressive launch schedule is one of several key components in Nissan's global expansion strategy.

Nissan has invested about $4 billion in its three U.S. manufacturing facilities. The Smyrna plant builds the Maxima sports sedan, the Xterra compact SUV, the Frontier compact truck and the Altima. Beginning this fall, the Pathfinder SUV will join the production lineup. In Decherd, Tenn., Nissan builds engines for all U.S.-produced Nissan and Infiniti vehicles and assembles transaxles.

The announcement of Altima Job 1 at Canton comes at the same time as the Nissan 360 news media event, a three-week program in San Francisco featuring the automaker's current and future global products. At the event, approximately 500 reporters are being given the opportunity to drive nearly 70 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles to familiarize themselves with the breadth of Nissan's global product lineup.

In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com and www.infiniti.com.